Previous Section Index Home Page

29 Oct 2008 : Column 1040W—continued

Railways: Overcrowding

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department will gather information on overcrowding levels on trains outside London and the south-east. [229954]

Paul Clark [holding answer 27 October 2008]: The Department for Transport will gather information on crowding levels during the morning peak in London and in other cities as part of its plans for monitoring delivery of the capacity metrics, announced in the 2007 high-level output specification.

Railways: Standards

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many scheduled train services were cancelled in the six months from 1 April 2008, broken down by train operating company. [228100]

Paul Clark: The latest available data covers England and Wales for the period up to 13 September. Between 1 April and 13 September 2008, the number of franchised passenger trains cancelled for their whole journey is given by train operating company in the following table.


29 Oct 2008 : Column 1041W
Train operating company Number of cancellations

Arriva Trains Wales

469

c2c

541

Chiltern

333

First Capital Connect

2,029

First Great Western

1,552

National Express East Coast

313

Merseyrail

672

Northern Rail

2,301

National Express East Anglia

2,776

Southeastern

2,190

Southern

2,126

Stagecoach South West Trains

1,997

TransPennine Express

437

Virgin Trains

775

CrossCountry

555

East Midlands Trains

698

London Overground

503

London Midland

2,976

Total

23,243


The total number of trains cancelled represents 0.9 per cent. of those scheduled to operate over the period in question. This is a reduction on the equivalent period in 2007 when 1.1 per cent. of scheduled services were cancelled.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many scheduled rail services were (a) delayed and (b) delayed more than 20 minutes in each of the first three quarters of 2008, broken down by (i) region and (ii) train operating company. [228103]

Paul Clark: Train performance data for the rail network is collected and processed by Network Rail. The hon. Member may wish to contact Network Rail’s chief executive at the following address for a response to his question.

The information about the punctuality of individual train operating companies can be found on the Network Rail website, which is situated at:

Rescue Services: Hope Cove

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will arrange for the meeting between the hon. Member for Totnes, the Hope Cove lifeboat crew and the Minister responsible for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency as requested by letter on 26 September; and what the reasons for the time taken in responding to that letter are. [231284]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The hon. Member’s letter was received in the Department on 7 October and a reply, agreeing to a meeting, was sent on 24 October. This is within the Department’s guidelines for the return of correspondence within 15 working days of receipt.


29 Oct 2008 : Column 1042W

Roads: Accidents

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) fatalities, (b) serious injuries and (c) other outcomes there were in road accidents in (i) Cornwall and (ii) England in the months of (A) June, (B) July and (C) August in the last five years. [231288]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of casualties resulting from reported personal injury road accidents for the months of June, July and August in Cornwall and England, for each of the last five years is given in the table:

Number of casualties
Cornwall England

June July August June July August

2003

Killed

0

1

5

263

259

321

Serious

21

26

29

2,557

2,518

2,527

Slight

237

269

250

18,857

19,678

18,298

Total

258

296

284

21,677

22,455

21,146

2004

Killed

8

5

1

231

207

241

Serious

14

21

28

2,413

2,214

2,324

Slight

212

248

261

18,205

17,876

18,356

Total

234

274

290

20,849

20,297

20,921

2005

Killed

4

5

5

225

218

230

Serious

24

24

23

2,223

2,285

2,244

Slight

238

302

288

17,925

18,260

17,559

Total

266

331

316

20,373

20,763

20,033

2006

Killed

6

5

6

232

223

240

Serious

11

26

15

2,278

2,337

2,056

Slight

207

255

273

16,578

17,843

16,505

Total

224

286

294

19,088

20,403

18,801

2007

Killed

6

1

4

184

202

226

Serious

21

26

26

2,084

2,186

2,122

Slight

248

284

244

16,568

17,015

15,991

Total

275

311

274

18,836

19,403

18,339


Roads: Lighting

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to encourage local authorities to dim street lights during the early hours of the morning. [229924]

Paul Clark: Street lighting service levels are a matter for individual highway authorities.

The effects of reducing lighting levels or turning lights off will vary from case to case. Any cost savings from reduced energy use would have to be balanced against potential adverse effects, for example on accidents or crime.

The UK Lighting Board in conjunction with the Institution of Lighting Engineers has published "Invest to Save" which provides guidance to local authorities considering adopting energy saving measures such as dimming or switching off lights. The document can be found at the Institution of Lighting Engineers' website


Next Section Index Home Page